This is a first of its kind marriage of the strengths of a bank and an oil distribution company to make modern banking services available to the people residing in semi-urban and rural India that remain inaccessible by the current branch network. Beginning with Pilibhit, HDFC Bank plans to cover 1000 KSKs in a phased manner and each of these outlets will be able to serve around 1,500 customers.

This initiative is part of HDFC Bank's Board-approved mandate to bring 10 million families (40 million individuals) into the banking fold. The Kisan Seva Kendra outlets will offer banking services such as preliminary processing of loan applications, disbursal and collection of small value deposits, sale of micro-insurance, mutual funds and other investment instruments.

Commenting on the tie-up, Mr. Michael Andrade, Head, Agri Business, HDFC Bank said, "HDFC Bank has more than 75% of its total branches in tier 2 and tier 3 towns and cities. We take great pride in empowering our customers in semi-urban and rural areas by providing them a wide array of banking products.

This initiative in partnership with IOCL is yet another step towards taking banking to the enterprising Indians in the hinterlands. Given IOCL's broad network of rural retail outlets and our bouquet of banking products, this partnership is a win-win for our customers."

"Kisan Seva Kendra is a retail outlet model pioneered by IOCL to cater to the needs of customers in the rural segment. Today, KSK outlets have emerged as dominant players in the rural markets, riding on the rapid growth of upcoming second and third tier roads in the rural areas.

The KSKs come with a fresh perspective, enabling dealers to tap the huge demand driven by consumers. This tie-up will allow HDFC Bank to leverage our well-established retail network for the benefit of customers in rural areas and create new avenues for inclusive growth," said Mr. Atul Bhatnagar, DGM, Retail Sales Head, UPSO - 2, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.